“We were motivated because we were afraid he would explode the next season and be one of the very best players in college hockey,” McNab said.

“It’s something we used to have success with, before the salary cap came, because you could spend a million or a couple of million on a guy that you really liked. Not every team believed in that sort of investment. But now, with the cap being tighter, the salaries for those players have gone down and more teams are getting involved. So it’s harder now.”